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The Ludwig brand received its greatest boost in popularity in 1963-1966 when Ringo Starr of The Beatles was prominently displaying the trade name on his bass drumhead, immediately above the Beatles ' logo.

The Ludwig company expressed its appreciation to Starr in 1964 when William Ludwig Jr., Vice-President and General Manager of the company at the time, presented him with an inscribed, gold-plated snare drum during The Beatles ' appearance in Chicago.

Ginger Baker of Cream was another famous Ludwig endorser of the 1960s.

Baker was responsible for making double-bass Ludwig drum kits popular as well as the fusion of jazz, rock, African and poly-rhythms in drumming.

In the 70s, Led Zeppelin's John Bonham became the next world class drummer to use and endorse Ludwig drums, after Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge, and later Cactus, Beck, Bogert & Appice, and finally, with Rod Stewart, followed by Alex Van Halen of Van Halen in the late 70s and Neil Peart of Rush in the late 80s.

Many other Rock and Roll drummers have switched to or began with Ludwig drums during their careers: Brian Bennett of the Shadows, Ian Paice of Deep Purple, Simon Kirke of Bad Company, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Ronnie Tutt with Elvis Presley, Aynsley Dunbar of Journey, Jefferson Starship, Peter Criss ( before switching to Pearl ) and his successor, Eric Carr of KISS, Lars Ulrich of Metallica ( before switching to Tama ), Herman Rarebell of Scorpions, Graeme Edge of the Moody Blues, Roger Pope of Hookfoot, Elton John and Hall and Oates, Scott Rockenfield of Queensryche, Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Asia, Alan White of Yes, Matt Frenette of Loverboy, Steve Negus of Saga, Rick Allen of Def Leppard, Will Berman of MGMT, Rob Bennett of The Pacific Raiders, Carlton Barret ( Bob Marley and the Wailers ) and Baxter Mawoza of Synthesisare.

Although long associated with Premier, The Who's Keith Moon played Ludwig's during the band's early days, as did ZZ Top's Frank Beard in that band's earliest days ; he has since been long associated with Tama.